December 2023

A Love Letter to Mass Effect 2

I rolled credits on Mass Effect 2 mere minutes ago. The final mission had my heart racing. Not only were the action elements intense and fast-paced, but the pressure placed on Shepard to save each crew member added to every emotion. Surprising myself, I had a bout of nostalgia wave over me as I was asked to pick my final squad to finish the fight.

I chose Tali and Garris.

Both of whom I rarely used throughout my 30+ hours playing the game. But it all got to me. I refused to use a guide on how to save my crew and I wanted to live with the hard decisions. Very present by placing Tali as the vent runner. The pressure already was weighing on me. Luckily, I walked (ran, jumped) away unscathed.

It was in those final moments that all my play time caught up to me and I found where my affinties lie and where my regret would fall. I was wincing with each cutscene, unsure if I had made a fatal error. The sigh of relief when I rolled the credits lowered my shoulders at least four inches. A sign of a truly wonderous game.

Where Mass Effect enraptured me with the mystique of the universe and compelling characters, Mass Effect *2* felt like I was finally enmeshed in its world. While I appreciate much about ME1, ME2 dwarfs the first entry in essentially every way. I mean no hyperbole by this. Even the largest missions in ME1 are commonplace for the majority of ME2 missions and assignments. The Citadel in ME1 is matched by Omega and Illium. Main missions have added full interactions, assignments rival the scale of missions in ME1. It wasn’t until I played and apprecited ME2 that I see what was lacking – or what couldn’t be accomplished back then.

Alas, it isn’t necessary to make comparisons to ME1 to get the point across that ME2 is a masterpiece. Perhaps the most important part of Mass Effect as a series is only improved in 2. The story and the characters. The way the camera sets up multiple angles during you interactions is stunning and immersive, the depth of insight you get into the lives of your crew (which is HUGE my god), and the consequences you get to feel regularly. A testament to why I refused to go on, finishing off assignment-after-assignment, not wanting to make the mistake of accidently finishing off the game before I was ready.

It isn’t just the main plot, this game spends much of its time rewarding you for your time in Mass Effect 1. There are countless moments where some small, stray decision in ME1 will come up in a news cast or a familiar face will pop-up on Illium or the Citadel. These moments cemented these people in my mind. Seeing Emily Wong thrive and Conrad turn into, well, whatever all that is about is so gratifying. This is part of the genius. It doesn’t take much to make the player feel all these warm and fuzzies. Two sentences over a news cast. That’s it and I am taken back to the world of Mass Effect 1. To insignificant decisions I made while out in the galaxy. These developers treat you so well!

A new addition to ME2 are “loyalty” missions whereby you get the opportunity to earn the loyalty of all of your (12!) crew members. What I find is underappreciated about the Mass Effect series if that they aren’t afriad to experiment. Luckily, they know enough to not shove these types of experiences into core content. But, you get such a diverse story-telling experience with Kasumi’s stealth mission, emotional heart-break with Jack, and a courtroom drama with Tali. You even get humor with Jacob and emotional hurt with Garris and Thane. Regardless of the mechanics, these missions were one of the few times I felt so connected with characters. A huge feat given how many characters there are in this game!

I could wax endlessly about every small detail that struck or will stay with me. What a delight and privilege to continue this series.

The next time I write, it will be in the euphoric heart-break of finishing the fight!